Discharge or IRR? What to do?

[FF77]

Good afternoon, all. I started another thread of initial questions and then wrote this as my further questions, but realized it maybe be helpful to re-post it as a new thread of new questions...

I wonder if any of you can shed some light on my situation. I'm an Army Reservist and have lasted awhile since I fought to stay in, hoping for healing. But my condition has worsened and I'm at the point of wondering if it's time to just pull back now and heal. In fact, I have no idea how I'm going to get to and through my upcoming drills, which are pretty intense. This leads me to try to see that maybe it's time to let go of the Army dream - at least for now, somehow, until I am better, though it is unknown, really if and when "better" will come.

So I am wondering, would moving into the IRR be an option in the middle of my contract right now, due to medical? If my command is ok w/it (they are usually pretty supportive of my goals), do they have the authority to make that decision? And is it a simple process or something long and drawn out? (You can imagine the bureaucracy I've had to deal with over the years, and is why I ask, just so I can know what I'm in for).

And then of course, there's the option to allow medical discharge. This one's hard for me since once I'm out, I don't have the hope of coming back if I get better since I'm now over the age limit, so had been holding off on this. I'm trying to ease the sting of losing my Army dreams with the hope that maybe I can get the full GI Bill and cultivate some new goals and dreams. One concern I have is that one person (not anyone in authority, just another Soldier) thought that I would not be afforded a medical discharge code (which, as I understand, would help me qualify for 100% of the GI Bill) simply because I did not get to finish Advanced Individual Training, and that I could only be given a "general discharge". I hope he's wrong, since I have certainly served over 30 continuous AD days and have a service-connected disability, per the VA. Please verify that I don't need to be concerned about getting screwed over in a discharge?

Also, can my First Sergeant have the authority to write up my discharge or who does that? Does everyone discharging have to go through a MEB or PEB or something of the sort?

Thank you so much for reading this. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[gsfowler]

If you have medical issues, then you should be referred to a MEB/PEB. Your 1SGT has nothing to do with this.

Step one is to log into AKO go to my medical and do a periodic health assessment. Once this is completed, then you will need schedule an appointment with your RSC medical officer.

 

[FF77]

If you have medical issues, then you should be referred to a MEB/PEB. Your 1SGT has nothing to do with this.

Step one is to log into AKO go to my medical and do a periodic health assessment. Once this is completed, then you will need schedule an appointment with your RSC medical officer.

Ok, roger that, gsfowler, thanks for "meeting" me over here. How do I find out who my RSC medical officer is? Do I need to go to or through my battalion surgeon? If there's a way to find out on my own that is best since my battalion surgeon has been pretty hard to reach for months.

And have you been through a MEB already? Is the purpose for them to determine whether to keep you in or not? Does the Soldier have any say? Is it an administrative/paperwork process or is it an actual meeting convened and who does the MEB consist of?